'Easy to feel special': Troy Stecher plays hero as Maple Leafs win thriller

TORONTO — As the final minute of a tied-up barnburner sizzles away, Nick Paul gets hauled down illegally by Tye Kartye in the New York Rangers’ zone but keeps the puck alive and the penalty delayed with a second effort.

Brandon Duhaime gathers Paul’s loose change and feeds it back to Morgan Rielly.

Thinking pass all the way, the defenceman holds the puck on his blade, drawing in weak-side winger Will Cuylle as long as possible before zipping the thing across to partner Troy Stecher.

Stecher, No. 28, cuts in, snaps his first shot of the game and bulges the back of Dylan Garand’s net with just 28 seconds to go.

Toronto Maple Leafs win.

Then, the undersized waiver gem — Brad Treliving’s parting gift to a roster his predecessor overhauled something fierce — throws a fist pump high as his shot, hugs his teammates, motions for Scotiabank Arena to raise to its feet, high-fives the line, then waves to the crowd again. This time with both arms. 

Stand up.

“Dating back to last year, I’ve really embraced being a Maple Leaf. So much passion around the city and so much love for the Leafs that, as a player, it’s really hard not to feel. Like, it’s pretty easy to feel special,” says Stecher, explaining his celebration after a 5-4 thriller on Thursday.

“So, just trying to bring the arena together. You know, it’s more than just us 20 in here. It’s a big-time fan base, and I feel fortunate to be a part of it.”

Thing is, Stecher has felt part of something similar, way back when he was playing 20-plus minutes a night in college and earning NHL attention the undrafted way.

“A way different magnitude, but I did play at North Dakota. And I know it’s really small, but they’re kind of like the Alabama of college hockey for football, you know? And they travelled so well when I was playing at college, and I feel very similar here,” Stecher said. 

“When we go on the road, like half the arena is blue and Leafs fans. So, it's just such a unique situation to be a part of an organization like that. And I definitely try not to take it for granted.”

If some of his previous six NHL teams took Stecher for granted, the Maple Leafs have not.

Not last season, when the Edmonton Oilers castaway gave a slumping bunch a mid-season jolt. Not in the off-season, when new GM John Chayka extended the 32-year-old's contract for two seasons with his richest deal in five years. And certainly not this month, when a string of blue-line injuries has only ratcheted Stecher’s importance.

“I love playing with him. He works extremely hard. He moves the puck well. We talk a lot,” Rielly says. “It’s just a big moment. Troy’s a big part of our group. And he shows a lot of emotion, so I think that had something to do with it as well.”

Adds Duhaime: “He’s awesome. Just a hard-nosed, wily veteran. Plays the game the right way. Doesn’t take any shortcuts. Just a real privilege to play with him.”

Good or bad, hero or goat, Leafs Nation appreciates Stecher because he wears his heart on his sleeve. 

Before the D-man helped extend Toronto’s season-best win streak to three games Thursday, he was one of the few Leafs who looked ticked off over Saturday’s 4-1 home loss to the New York Islanders, smashing his stick in half over the crossbar when Bo Horvat scored the winner.

“The puck’s on my stick. Like, I know more than anybody that was my fault. One hundred per cent that’s why I smashed it,” Stecher told Sportsnet.ca afterwards. “I wanted to beat their 2-2 forecheck to make sure we had a 3-on-2 the other way. I didn’t hit it hard enough; it gets stopped in the zone and they score. So, that's a moment where I'm pissed off at myself because I made a mistake. I hurt the team. But if I can take away those one (poor) moments per game, I think overall my game is pretty good.”

Exceptional, especially, on a penalty kill that has scored as often as it has allowed a goal this season (once).

“As a whole, I've actually liked my game as an individual. My strengths obviously are on the kill, and our kill’s been really good this year. And I think I've added value to that,” he said. 

Thursday may have brought Stecher’s first goal of the season. Ironically, it was not his first goal celebration. He thought he’d scored on a point shot against the Islanders, but video review would reveal a tip by Colton Sissons.

“I saw the replay after the game. Instantly, I (told Sissons), ‘Why didn’t you tell me in the huddle?’ Because I wanted to lead the skate-by. So, I kind of looked like an idiot.”

On Thursday, Stecher simply looked like an overjoyed hero, even if he’s an unlikely one.

“I just actually saw the goal on TV, so I got to see the front of the bench,” coach Jim Hiller said. “That makes you feel good. They were excited. They were happy for Stech, I’m sure. Happy we scored. Happy we won the game. But that's a lot of emotion for a game that wasn’t overtime. That's a regular-season game in October. It was great to see. It's a great sign.”

And a great signing.

“It wasn't pretty the whole way through, but we stuck with it as a group — and that's what we're going to take with it. When we play as a collective group, we can find ways to win games when we're not at our best,” Stecher said.

Next stop: Edmonton, the city that let him walk to Toronto.

“We've got three in a row now and got some good jam in this room. It feels like guys are not too high, but we're definitely confident in ourselves,” Stecher says. “Hopefully we can keep this going on the road.”

Fox’s Fast Five

• Sergei Bobrovksy tied New York icon Henrik Lundqvist for sixth place on the career wins list (459) — the most by a non-Canadian goalie.

Bobrovsky accomplished the feat in 814 games played; Lundqvist needed 887. Next up: ex-Leaf Ed Belfour (484). Twenty-five more wins and Bobrovsky cracks the top five.

“I’m sure his two Cups mean a lot more to him than that,” Stecher said. 

“But it’s still really impressive. Everybody’s talked about throughout the season how pumped we are to have Bob here and the leadership qualities that he brings to the room. Not just like what he does on the ice. So, congrats to him. That's an amazing accomplishment.”

• Gavin McKenna notched a power-play assist that moved him into a tie for the lead in NHL rookie scoring (seven points), but the winger saw just two shifts in the third period.

McKenna posted his lowest ice time (10:44) outside of the night he got benched.

Hiller needs to find the playmaker a few shifts away from linemates Colton Sissons and Vinni Lettieri. Nothing crazy. Just the occasional bump-up to the top six.

• Enjoyed this thoughtful breakdown of Auston Matthews by Rangers D-man and Leafs draft pick Sean Durzi, who spent early training camps with the Leafs star: 

“His physicality, when he’s using that to full strength, it’s a pretty big task. Physicality can be displayed in different ways. It’s not so much the big hit — and he does throw his body — but it’s just physically around the net, creating space, all that stuff. As a defenceman, you got to find ways to negate that and get inside of that physicality and not let him use his body to his advantage. But it’s a big task, and obviously he’s playing at a pretty high level now.

“Something that I realized is, guys really play at the top of their game when they’re enjoying themselves. Pay attention to Auston over there. He’s got smiles constantly. He’s playing well.”

• Fourth-liners Teddy Blueger (goal, assist), Duhaime (goal, two assists) and Zack MacEwen (two assists) all registered their first-ever points as Maple Leafs on the same play. They came into the night with a combined zero points and drove home with seven.

“Everybody always loves it when those guys get rewarded with goals and points because they do the dirty work,” Hiller said.

• We heard that the Maple Leafs explored acquiring a second Raddysh — Rangers fourth-liner Taylor — over the off-season to go with new top defenceman Darren.

The brothers played three of their junior years as Erie teammates, plus a couple games as Lightning in 2021-22. Much like the Tkachuks and Hugheses, the former Otters have talked about an NHL reunion.

“That was pretty special for the whole family. Mom and Dad got to drive to one city instead of two in the OHL. So, it’d be amazing to play with him, and hopefully maybe have that opportunity one day,” Darren smiled at morning skate. “There’s no friends out there. Maybe I’m not going to hit him too hard in the corner, but I’ll definitely be trying my hardest against him.”

The siblings grew up in nearby Caledon, Ont., and frequently attended games at Scotiabank Arena. Their father, Dwayne, had only two seats, so they’d take turns sitting beside Dad.

Dwayne Raddysh died in March after his battle with cancer. A few months later, Dwayne’s favourite team offered Darren the biggest contract of his life. He had to tell Taylor.

“Special. We both kind of looked at each other like, ‘Is this actually real? Am I going to do this?’” Darren recalled. “He was very happy for the decision I made.”

Taylor is an impending free agent in 2027.